Electric grill



Oct. '16, 1934. G. A. METHE ELECTRIC GRILL Filed March 23, 1931 PatentedOct. 16, 1934 I ,U-'NI'TEUSTATES, PATENT OFFICE..

1',9' 17,237 I ELECTRIC' GRI'LL i George A. -M`ethe, Leominster, Mass.Vlviplli'cation March 23, 1981,-V Serial No. 524,431 5 claims..(01.53-5) This invention relates to a grill for cooking meats andothersubstances. and the same principle Vcan be :used inv a toaster or otherarticle of the same general nature.'V Y '5i The principal object of theinvention is to provide simple and effective means, actuated by a*handle on the upper element. by which the latch which holdsit up ininclined position can. be released' sor that it cany beA turned downagain to parallel position.

OtherV objects andadvantagesA of the tion willy appearv hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to theaccompanying drawingi in' which the iigureis a longitudinal 15 verticali-sectional view of anrelectric grillconstructed-l in accordance with this invention and shownpartiallyinsection.

Thev grillr` is shown as comprising` aV hollow casing*y onth'e topofwhich is a lower eleinventricheating'unit therein; notv shown-.-Thiselement' is Xed in stationary" horizontal Vposition on" the casing.Above' it is,VAK a movable electric' uniti andgrill element 12,` and'between these two elements the steakor'other material to bev cookedisplaced.

The upperl elementin 12 is xed to a frame 13 above it and is providedwith a handle 14 for manipulating it. In the end of this frame is acylindrical socket 15 open at the rear end in which is located a cam 16.This cam is held in the frame 13 by screws or the like and has acylindrical portion which enters a perforation of VAthe same shape in acap 17. The cam member is 'lprovided with a circumferential groove 18into which extends the end of a screw 19 to hold the cam longitudinallybut to allow it to rotate or oscillate with respect to the cap. The camend of this cam 16 is at the right of the drawing and is ofsemi-cylindrical shape. Y

In the cap is a lever 20 rwhich has a latch 21 for engaging a stationaryprojection 22 on a rod 23, and it has a cam operated endY 24 normallyresting under the cam 16. A spring 25 normally holds this latch down inlatched position if the cam is not in a position to actuate it. In theposition shown it is forced down as far as it can be. When the handle 14is raised, it swings the whole structure consisting of the parts 12 and17 about a pivot 26 on the top rod 23 and the latch 21 will come downand latch under the projection 22, the spring yielding to allow thisaction. This will hold the element 12 in inclined position. When it isdesired to restore the element 12 to horizontal position the handle aufment 11 of the grill,l having of course: anelec 14 is turned on the axisof the cam member `16 and this cam will force the endl 24 downwardly andswingthe end 21 upwardly away from the projection 22 and release theseparts. TheI cap' 17 ha'sia stop lug Z'I'adapted to engage the rod 60' 23to hold the upper unit in horizontal position'.

The ircd 23 isY mounted between freely rotating-rolls 28 located inpairs'on both sidesr ofit so' that* it will haveV aperfectly parallelvertical1 motion'.` 1t isprovided with a stud 29 which en- 65 gages in aslot 30A in an arm 31 which, together with another arm 32 constitutes allever. This arm 31 is pivoted on a stud 33 on a bracket 84v fixed. onthe inside of the casing. Also .pivoted or otherwise securedto the arm31 is anarm 35 70 connected by a strong spring 36`with a stationarybracket 37 which also supportsl two of the rollsf 'Ihe two arms'31and'32 are pivote'd'together.y by aistud 38 which's located outof andabove. 5 the central line of Ythese two arms when they are located in,alignment with? each other. .'Ihisf stud is mounted in' two brackets39'and 40, onel secured to the'v arm 31V and the other `secured to thearm 32. These two brackets have projec- 80. tionsf extendingvtherefromon opposite sides of tli'ecombiriedflevei 311 and 32l andf aspring 4l.'` connecting them. The two springs 36 and 41 are coiledextension springs. On the arm 32 is a solid weight 42 and the armextends through the casing and is provided with a handle 43 foroperating it and a latch 44 for holding it in its uppermost position.

An electric switch 45 is used to turn the current on and off but as thisinvention involves no improvement or change in the electric wiring, thesame is not shown herein.

The operation of the parts of the device shown in the casing iscomparatively simple. As illustrated, the two arms 31 and 32 constitutea lever pivoted at 33 and having a counterweight 42 for partiallycounterbalancing the weight of the electric unit 12 and a counterweightspring 36 acting on the lever in the same direction as the weight.

` It will be seen that when the latch 44 is released and the parts areleft free the upper elec- Ytrical unit 12 will press down on the meat orother material on the unit 11 but not with the force of all its weight.The reason for having two counterweights is that it is desired at timesto relieve the element 12 of a part of the counterweighting force butnot all of it. This is accomplished through the joint 38, 39, 40 andspring 41. When the movable Vparts are elevated to a 1m greater or lessdegree the arm 32 is turned on the pivot 38. The weight 42 no longeracts as a counterweight and then only the spring 36 will So act. Underthese circumstances the Weight of the unit 12 presses down with greaterforce than it does when the parts are in the position shown in fulllines.

In this way it will be seen that the grill is provided which has twocounterbalancing devices, one of which can be thrown out of operationwhen a greater force is required on the material Ibeing cooked.Furthermore the upper electrical unit is connected with the bottom insuch a way that it will rise and fall in exactly a vertical manner andwill always remain absolutely parallel with the stationarybnit below.The manner of lifting the upper unit 12 about its pivot 26 holding itelevated in inclined position and releasing it contributes to theconvenience and usefulness of the device.

Although I have illustrated and described only one form of the inventionI am aware of the fact that modifications can be made therein by anyperson skilled in the art without departing from the scope of theinvention as expressed in the claims. Therefore I do not wish to belimited in this respect but what I do claim is:-

1. In an electric grill, the combination with a fixed lowerunit and amovable upper unit, of means for raising and lowering the upper unit andretaining it at all times parallel with the lower unit when it is inoperative position, said means comprising a vertical reciprocable rodhaving a' projection thereon, said upper unit being pivoted to said rod,a lever movable with the upper unit and having a latch end pivotallymounted with respect to the upper unit, a spring for holding said leverdown at its latch end to. engage said projection when the upper unit isturned upwardly on its pivot and hold it in inclined position until thecatch is released, said upper unit being pivoted to turn on alongitudinal axis,`and means for releasing the latch by the turning ofthe upper unit on its longitudinal axis.

2. In an electric grill, the combination with a stationary unit and amovable unit, of a movable rod having a pivot, a cap pivotally mountedon the pivot, a projection on the rod, a lever pivoted on the cap andhaving a latch end for engaging said projection when the head is turnedinto inclined position to hold it there, and a stud carried by saidhead, fixed to said movable unit and adapted to be turned in the cap,said stud having a cam end thereon adapted to engage the end of saidlever to swingV the lever on its axis when the upper unit is turned onthe axis of the stud, thereby releasing the lever from the saidprojection.

. 3. In an electric grill, the combination with a fixed lower unit, aprojection, and a pivoted upper unit, of a lever movable with the upperunit and having a latch end pivotally mounted with respect to the upperunit, a spring for holding said lever down at its latch end to engagesaid projection when the upper unit is turned upwardly on its pivot andhold it in inclined position until the catch is released, said upper.unit being pivoted to turn on a longitudinalaxis, and means forreleasing the latch 'by the turning of the upper unit on itslongitudinal axis.

4. In an electric grill, the combination with'a iixed lower unit, aprojection, and a. pivoted up-r per unit,`of a lever movable with theupperA unit and having a latch end pivotally mounted with respect to theupper unit to engage said projection, said upper unit being pivoted toturn on a longitudinal axis, and means for releasing the latch by theturning ofthe upper unit on its longitudinal axis.

5. In an electric grill, the combinationrwithl a stationary unit and amovable unit pivoted to turn on a longitudinal axis, of a horizontalpivot, a cap pivotally mounted on the pivot, aprojection, a leverpivoted on the cap and havingV a latch end for engaging said projectionwhen the cap is turned into inclined position to hold it there, and acam on the movable unit in position to engage the end of said lever toswing the lever on its axis when the upper unit is turned on alongitudinal axis, thereby releasing the lever from the said projection.

GEORGE A. METHE.

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